Bath Tangle

Gossip, scandal and an unforgettable Regency romance

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: Poppy Gilbert

Brought to you by Penguin.

Bath Tangle is read by Poppy Gilbert, who appears in The Pale Horse.

Brought to you by Penguin.

Bath Tangle is read by Poppy Gilbert, who appears in The Pale Horse.

Serena Carlow's former love now controls her future happiness.

Serena Carlow's former love now controls her future happiness.

After her father's unexpected death, Serena's jilted ex-fiancé—the Marquis of Rotherham—is made the sole trustee of her wealth and marriage prospects.

Eager for an escape, she moves to Bath and encounters her childhood sweetheart, the dashing Hector Kirkby—but will Rotherham approve the match?

Before long, they are all entangled in a confusion of marriage and manners the likes of which Regency Bath has rarely seen.

©1955 Georgette Heyer (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Absolutely delicious tales of Regency heroes.... Utter, immersive escapism." (Sophie Kinsella)

"I've read her over and over and over again." (Stephen Fry)

"Utterly delightful." (The Guardian)

Wonderful writing.

Georgette Heyer. Need I say more? The narrator was weirdly annoying. I’ll give books a pass if she’s the narrator in the future.

So Entertaining!

Heyer is an absolute genius at character development and interesting plots. This story does NOT disappoint! Poppy Gilbert really gets the sense of Heyer's characters and delivers the lines perfectly. The only reason I marked her down a star was because, at times, it was difficult to follow which character was speaking. There was not enough variation in the character voices. Having said that, it did not diminish the enjoyment of the story.

Entertaining plot, sub-par narration

I’ve read many Heyer novels and this was an enjoyable one. There is a dash of a certain kind of realism in the story with the nod to Serena’s capabilities as a political hostess and the acknowledgment of real flaws in both main characters.

The narration was not very good. The tone was not irritating, but the pacing was odd and at times felt weirdly clipped. (As in, I checked to see if it was accidentally on 1.5 speed when it was not.) Also the narrator was not able to distinguish clearly enough between different voices and therefore the dialogues were sometimes difficult to follow.

The grandmother was fun

The narration on this was superb. I wish there were more books available with her as the reader. She got the tone, the pace, and all the characters spot on. I don’t think Heyer meant this book to be taken seriously, so I didn’t and enjoyed it with that in mind. I even laughed out loud a few times. The two obnoxious protagonists fit perfectly in an entertaining over-the-top way. Though I liked Lord R better than the Serena.

Very good

Narrator is good and deserve to have 5 stars, and story is as good as any others told by Hayer

Two unpleasant people who deserve each other

The author seems not to have liked either of the protagonists, who are both extremely forceful individuals without much self understanding, . There is one non-aristocratic character, who had some charm and was well performed

Narration could be better

One of my very favourite Heyer novels with her trademark wit and humour. Alas, the narrator would be better suited to reading chick lit than a regency romance. Do agree with an earlier reviewer that Selena and Rotherham, both come off as rather unsympathetic characters in the narration, unlike in the book. Will be returning this recording.

The delivery

The abrasive personality of both lead characters irritated me. However others might enjoy this.